Managing your income

The first step is to make sure you have as much money coming in as possible to pay for what you need. The money you have coming in is called your income.

Types of income can include the following:

• Work - This is the main source of income for many people. If you have cancer, you may need to take time off work. Your income may be less, but this does not mean your earnings have to stop completely. We have more information about work and cancer.

• Benefits - You may be able to get benefit payments from the government. Our money advisers can help you find out which benefits you may be able to claim.

• Savings or investments - If you have savings, now may be a good time to use them. But check if you can get extra income from somewhere else first, such as benefits or insurance policies. Our money advisers can give you information about accessing your savings and investments to provide an income. You can call them for free on 0808 808 00 00.

• Insurance policies - If you have health, life, or protection insurance, you may be able to make a claim. Remember that insurance pay outs may affect what benefits you can get.

• Pensions - If you have a private pension, you may be able to retire and claim your pension early because of ill health. There are benefits and disadvantages to accessing your pension early. It may affect any benefits you can get.

• Grants - You may be able to apply for a grant from local or national organisations. These can help with the extra costs of cancer.

You can use our budget planner [PDF, 47KB] to write down your income and your spending. There are also online budget calculators, such as on the MoneyHelper website.

Make sure you have applied for any benefits, insurance payments or grants you may be entitled to. If you are unsure of what you could get, call us free on 0808 808 00 00 to speak to our money advisers.

It is a good idea to understand how your income and spending compare. This can help you stay in control of your finances. If your spending is higher than your income, you may need to think about making some changes.

It is a good idea to divide your spending into:

• essential items, such as rent or mortgage payments, utility bills and food costs
• non-essential items, such as holidays or meals out.

Usually, non-essential spending can be easier to reduce. But you may also be able to reduce spending on some essential items, if this does not affect your health

You could use our budget planner or an online budget calculator to track your spending. Writing it down may make it easier to see where you need support, or where you could make savings.

Types of costs

Your costs may include:

• housing costs, such as rent, mortgage payments, council tax or rates
• household costs, such as energy bills, water rates, phone and broadband bills
• credit card payments
• childcare costs
• health costs, such as prescriptions
• travel costs, such as travel to hospital and parking.

We have more information about bills and housing costs.

Credit cards

If you use credit cards and do not pay off your balance in full every month, you may be paying interest. You could transfer your balance to another card. Some cards offer 0% interest deals for a limited period. But there may be a charge for doing this.

You can check if this option will save you any money by using an online price comparison website such as:

• moneysavingexpert.com
• creditkarma.co.uk
• uswitch.com

They can give you an idea of your chances of being accepted for a credit card before you apply.

Many newspapers also include comparison tables in their personal finance section.

It is also a good idea to check if you have any payment protection insurance (PPI) on your credit card. This can help cover your monthly credit card repayments if you are signed off from work. We have more information about PPI.

If you are struggling to manage your banking, you can ask a family member or friend to help you. This may depend on what type of account you have.

Help from your bank

You can talk to your bank or financial provider about your cancer diagnosis. They will often be able to look at what support is available for you. Tell them if you think you may be unable to make any of your payments, such as your mortgage, loans or credit card payments.

For further information - click here